La Crainte de Xana
by EvanescentDream93
Summary: AU story. The world as we know it now... is basically a distant faded dream. Man lives from day to day, survivng the hell he has created for himself, living in fear of his own creation... For AmericanElemental.
1. When Hope is Needed

**Disclaimer: I do not own Code Lyoko. Just this story's plot.**

**Quand l'espoir est nécessaire…**

_What a shame we all became such fragile, broken things  
A memory remains, just a tiny spark  
I give it all my oxygen  
So let the flames begin_

**_-Let the Flames Begin by Paramore_**

It was a cold third of October in 1992 that a German military satellite attacked an international school located in France and the country's capitol. The attack killed about eight hundred students and staff, the school building itself leveled to the ground. This incident caused a great uprising in the French government and population. They quickly responded by taking this attack as a declaration of war and used their own military weapons to attack back.

The other countries, in the beginning, wanted nothing more but to not be forced to take sides. Of course that was highly unlikely in more ways than one, one of them being the coordinated air attacks of unmarked Navy planes on several countries' capitols. Within only a few months, the whole world was caught in a war where allies turned against each other. In the end, even countries like Britain, France, and the U.S. were nothing more than piles of rubble.

After several years of innocents' bloodshed, the humans stopped fighting, seeing the damage they had caused and wishing that there was never a war in the first place, the casualties caused greater than all the major wars in the history of the world.

It had been thought that with the end of the war between countries – what some called World War III – that man could use this time to reflect on their actions and rebuild. They were wrong.

In the summer of 2004, the real enemy, the culprit behind the 1992 German satellite attack, made himself known by attacking several unheard of labs hidden throughout the world that had unknown funding and also blowing up an abandon factory near the sight of the destroyed school of Kadic Academy. On that day, computers, cell phones, T.V. s and any other electronic device were jammed with a signal that transmitted throughout the world. The transmission only showed one thing: a symbol. A symbol that would soon be wildly known as the eye of Xana – the end of man's rule on Earth and the reign of machines…

* * *

_Year: 2008 – the 4th year of Xanadu_

_Location:__ Remnants__ of Boulogne-Billancourt, France_

_1400 hours…_

Soft, precise footsteps seemed to echo loudly through the barren land. The sky - a beautiful clear blue with fluffy white clouds – blatantly seemed to contrast greatly with the image of the city below.

Tall sky scrappers, once the pride of man's ever growing technological and architectural skill, were now ruins, rusted, toppled, structures covered in moss and creeping ivy. The roads were rough and cracked, protruding up from the ground in unpaved slopes. If one was able to travel anywhere across the seemingly endless oceans and go to any city – Paris, Chicago, New York, London, Tokyo, Hong Kong, etc. – the same scene, maybe slightly variant, would be found. They were no longer the cities of mankind's rising hope but of their greatest destruction…

"Again, why did you wake me up early to come out here?" a slightly agitated brunette yawned as he leaned tiredly against a crumbling wall.

A blonde kneeled with his back towards him as he fumbled with a small, crudely made, satellite dish. The small machine whirred to life, lights flashing. "It works!" he cried happily.

"Great," the brunette replied rolling his eyes before squatting down next to the blonde. "Now what does it do?"

"Its suppose to be able to detect high frequency patterns in the air that can-"

"It's something that can tell us when we're being attacked," the brunette said cutting him off.

"Well…yeah…" the blonde replied.

"Then why didn't you just say that, Jeremy?" the brunette asked standing back up. "Not all of us can understand your big high-tech terms."

"You seem to be doing well Ulrich," Jeremy replied.

Ulrich smirked. "Only because I hang out with you so much. It's either this or…pretty much this."

Jeremy chuckled, pushing up his glasses. "Not much to choose from is it?"

"Not when you're just trying to live from day to day."

"We won't have to live this way forever," Jeremy replied soberly.

Ulrich sighed, running his hand through his hair tiredly. "Jer," he began.

"I know," the shorter male cut him off. "I'm an unrealistic optimist and if I don't sharpen up I'll get myself killed one of these days. I already have Jim breathing down my neck enough about it. I don't need you too."

A snort came from his companion and Jeremy looked up just in time to get flicked on the forehead by Ulrich's finger. The blonde looked questioningly at him but the taller male just smirked, stuffing his hands into his beige camouflage pants, a mandatory dress requirement.

"I wasn't going to say that, actually," Ulrich said watching with amused eyes as his tech-smart friend looked confused. "I was going to say that if anyone can change this sad and pathetic world it would probably be you. You've never given up even when it has looked bleak." The boy turned to Jeremy with a smirk. "Don't tell anyone but I look up to you."

Jeremy looked surprised before smirking too. "I won't tell if you promise not to tell anyone that I look up to you too."

They both chuckled. "Deal."

The quiet setting of the abandoned city was shattered as a loud roaring nose was heard. The two males looked up towards the sky to see smoke, gray smoke which relieved their tension slightly – black smoke was danger, death….Xana.

A small shape came into view cutting through the smoke revealing something that had been deemed early on years ago as banned due to the enemy's ability to control technology and the possible threat it could cause– a helicopter.

They watched as the helicopter swerved uncontrolled in the air, hovering for a few seconds before dipping down and then jerking back up. The flying object wavered from side to side with harsh jerks – like invisible children fighting over a wanted toy. One moment, it was flying above the ruin city and the next, one of its blades clipped the side of a building causing more smoke to billow up in the sky.

"It's going to crash," Jeremy murmured.

"Come on!" Ulrich called running towards where the helicopter was about to descend. Whether safely or not was still uncertain.

"Wait! Ulrich!" the blonde called after his friend but after only a second seeing that the brunette wasn't going to listen he sighed running after him, not noticing the small strand of dark smoke creeping into his satellite device.

Ulrich heard and felt it before he saw it; the helicopter crashing into the earth. He climbed over a large piece of crumbled debris caused by the flying machine's descent. He was soon able to see the wreckage.

Flames licked the skies turning to a dark gray smoke. He could feel the heat all the way from where he was standing but that didn't stop him from getting closer, something drawing him near.

"What are you doing, Ulrich? That thing could blow up!" Jeremy's voice shouted behind him but the brunette ignored him wanting to get closer to the helicopter, his need growing even stronger when he saw a foot kick the glass free from the front window of the chopper.

He ran towards it, seeing a blonde struggle to pull two bodies out of the chopper. Ulrich didn't hesitate to help as he ran up, taking one of the bodies, the blonde only giving him the barest of glances before pulling out the other body. Stern only had enough time to realize that the person he was carrying was female as he slipped one of her arms over his shoulder, the blonde from the helicopter doing the same with the person he held.

Jeremy ran towards them, helping his fellow blonde who seemed to be struggling to hold up the weight of the person he was carrying. A loud, resounding pop came from the helicopter and the three only had enough time to hide behind the crumbling piece of wall before the chopper exploded with a trembling boom.

Dust, dirt, and smoke swirled in the air, Jeremy, Ulrich, and the other blonde coughing from the inhalation as the particles clung to their hair and skin.

Ulrich breathed heavily as he propped the female he had been holding against the wall. He watched tiredly as the unnamed blonde checked the pulse of his unmoving companions before he sighed in relief. "Just unconscious," the brunette heard him murmur.

"We could have been killed. We could have been killed. We could have been killed. We could-"

"Jer, cut it," Ulrich said. "We're alive so relax. Anyway," he said turning to the other blonde, "who are you?" That's what the brunette wanted to say but when he turned towards the unknown blonde he was passed out. "Great," Ulrich murmured. "How are we going to get them back to the base?"

"You're bringing them with us?" Jeremy asked. "We don't know who they are!"

"Yeah, that's true," Ulrich said leaning over each of the people checking their eyes. "But they're human and at this point, that doesn't make them the enemy, whoever they are."

Jeremy sighed rubbing his temples. "I left my stuff back over at the place we were. I'll go get it and send out a flare signal."

"Sounds good," Ulrich nodded as he watched his friend leave. He got back up to his feet, looking beyond the wall towards the large flaming torch which once was a helicopter. He wondered where these three got it from and _where _did they come from. It was known that there were human settlements throughout the world but it was hard for one to come into contact with another, near impossible for someone to actually travel to another settlement that was not their own.

Stern looked back down at the three unconscious but alive people – two males and a female. They all appeared to be around his age – sixteen. The blonde who had pulled his companions out of the chopper was what Ulrich would call scrawny. He had a buzz cut hair style and a purple spot of hair in the middle which the brunette found strange. The other male had dark shaggy hair, stubble starting to show on his chin. Nothing really special about him, Ulrich thought. The female had short raven hair framing a pale Asian face. Even when she was unconscious she had a look of determination on her face that he found interesting.

Ulrich knelt in front of the inert female, cocking his head to the side as he looked at her. "So…who are you?"

--

_Location: Boulogne-Billancourt Underground Human Settlement_

_2100 hours_

Soft murmured voices filtered through the earthen hallways, gas lanterns hanging from the ceilings along with the hanging roots. Jeremy, Ulrich, and an older brunette hair man leaned against the wall opposite from the medical room.

"So where did you say ya found 'em?" the older man asked gruffly. Ulrich rolled his eyes. He and Jeremy had gone through this several times before and it was quickly getting tired and irritating to repeat.

"We found them in the city's ruins, Jim," Jeremy explained. "They were traveling in a helicopter when we first saw them – smoke coming from their helicopter– something must have been wrong with the systems. An unknown factor. Anyway, they managed to land safely enough for the blonde to get his friends out before the thing exploded."

Jim raised a thick cigar to his mouth – not lighting it – chewing on it thoughtfully. "I see," he murmured thoughtfully. Ulrich snorted, rolling his eyes once again but held back his tongue. Jim was like a second father figure to both Ulrich and Jeremy. Though Jeremy's father was actually a nice guy, Ulrich's on the other hand was…well, that's a different story for another time. The fact was that both males respected the man to some degree. "So," Jim said looking at both of them, arms crossed over his chest. "You two told me how you met those three but ya haven't told me why you two were out there in the first place.

Jeremy chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his neck. "Well, uh you know, we-"

Just then the nurse of the settlement stepped out from the curtain that led to the next room. Both boys sighed in relief.

"Well I checked all of their vitals, and save for a few scrapes and bruises, they all seem to be okay though their still unconscious," she informed. "They should be back up and running by tomorrow. It was lucky that you two found them," she said to the two boys.

"No problem ma'am," Ulrich grinned pulling Jeremy slowly away. "Well, we need to head to bed so see ya!"

Jim's shouts could be heard from behind them but the man's voice quickly faded away as the two boys got further away. Finally, they stopped, both breathing hard but with wry grins on their faces.

"Another great escape," Ulrich chuckled. "Though you almost dragged me behind."

"Yeah, well, we all can't be athletes like you," Jeremy teased as they walked through the part of the underground where the resident rooms were located. They stepped into a room that they shared, the boys' obvious personality clashing in the room. One side was filled with books, blue prints, and computer parts while the other side was covered in old faded martial arts posters and a small practice mat.

Jeremy went over to his desk where his miniature satellite sat while Ulrich plopped down on his messy bed.

"I think a few adjustments and this might be out for testing soon enough," Jeremy said excitedly.

"Yeah," Ulrich replied, "if you can get the chief – aka my dad, Mr. No Nonsense - to agree on that than sure. It's perfectly ready for testing."

Jeremy ignored his friend's sarcastic reply. "You know the best thing about having you as a friend?"

"My basically limitless access to the entire base?" Ulrich suggested.

"Yep," the blonde said before turning to his work. The brunette leaned back on his bed, hands pillowing his head.

"Let's say that you some how convince my dad to actually use this," the brunette said thoughtfully, nodding to his friend's device. "Will it really help us?"

Jeremy paused before continuing his work. "I hope. That's all we can do now. Hope and keep trying."

"I wish I was born in another time," Ulrich murmured.

"Past or future?"

"The present, but not this one, you know?"

Jeremy turned around to face him. "Like in an alternate universe parallel to this world?"

"I guess. Is that even possible?"

The blonde shrugged. "It was a common theme in a lot of science fiction but I do think I read something about a theory on it. Anyway, there's no real way to prove it, especially now with the way things are."

Closing his eyes, Ulrich murmured, "A world without Xana. A world without danger."

"Hard to believe," Jeremy sighed, "but anything's possible right? I mean it was that way before we were born." He turned back to his satellite without waiting for a response. It wasn't like he was waiting for one anyway. He was used to Ulrich being in his "what's my place in the universe?" type brooding. Though Jeremy didn't think it was the best way to see things he couldn't really complain. Everyone had their own ways of escaping this hell.

As he opened a plate on the satellite, Jeremy jumped back as he saw a long curl of smoke – black smoke – creep out from it. "Xana!" he gasped as the smoke split, pilling on the floor, creating and solidifying into two forms.

He heard Ulrich get up from his bed, yelling out into the hallway, but the tech savvy blonde stood in disbelief as he stared at two strange creatures – tarantulas. Both monsters aimed their cannons at the blonde. Ulrich came back into the room with a metal pipe in hand. He swung it wildly at the monsters but they merely shot it from his hands with their lasers.

Jeremy, still standing in shock couldn't even comprehend what was happening as a figure ran into the room – the blonde from the helicopter. Jeremy heard Ulrich shouting at the boy, something about it being dangerous, but the unknown blonde smirked over his shoulder before turning to the tarantulas. He pulled something out from a pouch on his hip. It looked like two laser guns. The unidentified blonde twirled them around his fingers before stopping them, aimed on the monsters.

Though everything else was blurry Jeremy remembered two things: the blonde's amused tone as he cried out "laser arrow" and the monsters – Xana's monsters, the same monsters that just one by themselves could create total damage - being destroyed completely and effortlessly.

* * *

Okay so this is an alternate universe multi-shot I'm doing for _AmericanElemental _that I decided to do since they asked me so nicely and this idea has been running in my head for a while anyway. I hope you like it. Forgive me for any political mistakes, if any, that might have been in the very beginning.

I'm still deciding on whether or not I should add my original characters, Musa and Cascada, from _Code Moon _in here. What do you guys think?

Anyway, nothing more to say so...**_PLEASE REVIEW!!_**


	2. A Different Point of View

**Disclaimer: I do not own Code Lyoko. Just this story's plot.**

**Un Point de Vue Différent**

_Location: Boulogne-Billancourt Underground Human Settlement_

_The Next Day: 800 hours_

Though he had never been the brightest bulb in the pack, it didn't take a genius to know that his female companion was, to put is simply, royally pissed. He didn't dare to look at the raven hair female directly. Instead, he glanced out from lowered lashes at her.

Her black camouflaged pant legs were crossed, a boot clad foot jiggling with irritation. Fingers tapped busily on crossed arms while her pale face was set into an annoyed scowl.

The blonde began counting down in his head. "_5…4…3…2…1…"_

"D-did that little hamster in your head, you know, the one that runs in that little wheel, die or something because that's the only reason why I can figure out why you did something so…so…"

"Boneheaded?" their other companion – William - supplied. The female quickly glared at the dark hair male before returning her attention to the blonde. He sighed. Though she was predictable, no amount of preparing would save him from her wrath when she got into one of these moods.

"Yumi, listen," the blonde tried to explain. "I woke up, heard screaming and shouting followed the sounds. When I got there I saw two of the monsters attacking these two guys. I had to do what I did to save them."

The Asian female, Yumi, growled frustrated. "But that doesn't mean you take out the heavy artillery, Odd!"

"Well I wasn't really paying attention, to what I was pulling out," Odd chuckled sheepishly.

The young woman grumbled before taking deep breaths. "Well, think next time," she said closing her eyes and rubbing her temples. She had had a headache since she had awakened and unfortunately this settlement was running out of a lot of needed things including pain killers.

William snorted. "If there is a next time."

Odd frowned. So what if they found out about the items that they held? They were all humans, right? Also, the people here had been willing to help them.

The blonde's musings were cut off as the door to the room opened, one of the boys that he had saved – the brunette walking in. "Is everything to you're liking?" he asked keeping his face straight and expressionless.

"Yes," Yumi said speaking for the group. "We appreciate your settlement's hospitality and we owe you since my comrade," she said nodding towards Odd, "has informed me that you and your friend helped save us from the helicopter, uh…"

"Ulrich," the brunette said. "Ulrich Stern. My father was elected as head of this settlement. Right now, he's busy with important matters. So I'm to escort you around the base."

"You mean babysit," William snorted getting up from his chair to stand before the boy. Odd could instantly feel the room get tense. Oh how just a few words could seem like a challenge to some. The blonde could instantly tell that William and Ulrich, two guys who both seemed to have that alpha male complex would make great friends. Not.

It must have been some sort of relief for the room when the blonde's stomach let out a loud growl. Ulrich broke his heated gaze from William's and turned to Odd. "Hungry?" he questioned.

"Yeah," Odd grinned sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck.

"Dinner should be ready by now," the brunette said. "We'll eat and I'll get Jeremy to help me show you guys around."

"Sounds like a plan," Odd chuckled swinging his arm over Ulrich's shoulder surprising the other boy by his forwardness. "Lead the way!"

--

Jeremy ran the calculations over and over in his head but all they managed to do was give him a headache. He knew it was impossible with the lack of technology due to the taboo that already surrounded most machines that anything remotely powerful is afraid to be made in case Xana turns it against them but…how was that boy able to get rid of a monster so effortlessly?

Questions began to run around in his head? Where did the boy get the device? Did he make it? If so, from what? How long did it take? Were there enough materials to make more? Would Xana soon be defeated?

He was so into his thoughts that he didn't notice when someone got up behind him and leaned into his ear before yelling "Jeremy!" causing the blonde to jump several feet in his seat. Jeremy turned around to find a smirking Ulrich. "Were you spacing out again?" the brunette asked.

The blonde sighed, removing his glasses and cleaning them with the hem of his shirt. "I guess I was." Jeremy looked up at Ulrich – or at least the blurry blob that the blonde thought was him since he had his glasses off – before blinking. He quickly put on his glasses and noticed that Ulrich hadn't come alone. Behind him were the three from the helicopter crash.

"Jer, you remember these guys right? Yumi, Odd, and William," Ulrich said narrowing his eyes slightly at the shaggy hair boy's name.

"Oh!" Jeremy said clumsily getting to his feet, nearly falling on his face if Odd hadn't caught his arm.

"I guess I keep on saving you," the other blonde chuckled as he steadied him onto his feet.

"This is Jeremy," Ulrich introduced. "Aka, the smartest person here when it comes to tech stuff. Now talking to those of the opposite sex is a complete different story."

Jeremy blushed at his friend's teasing, playfully shoving him. "It's only because people are too afraid of Xana to go anywhere near the more complex technology," Jeremy said readjusting his glasses. "There's still a lot of stuff I don't know. Everything I do know I got from books that I found in the city."

"There's a lot of stuff we all don't know," William said, "since the war began the economy all over the world has drastically dropped into basically nothing. The biggest communities we'll ever have will be these overfilled and under supplied settlements if we don't do anything about Xana."

The fairly large, poorly lit, dining hall quieted down as everyone seemed to hear the shaggy hair teen's boy words.

"Uh…" Odd said, racking his mind for something that would draw the attention off of him. "He said, we, uh…if we don't do anything about bananas, yeah bananas."

The settlers looked unconvinced but decided to shrug the strange boy off. They didn't need what they thought was a fool now. They needed a miracle.

"You sound just like my Ulrich dear," a voice said from behind the group. Both Ulrich and Jeremy rolled their eyes simultaneously. It seemed they knew the voice. The group turned around to see a short raven hair girl, her hair held back by a slightly old and worn out pink headband.

"Wow. I took Ulrich for the serious brooding type. I wouldn't compare him to me," Odd said.

"I wasn't talking to you, scrawny," the girl said flipping her hair over her shoulder, hands on her hips.

"I'm not scrawny!" Odd said defensively before slicking his hand over his hair. "I'm svelte."

"Sissi, get out of here," Ulrich said with little enthusiasm.

The girl ignored him as she turned to Yumi. "Wow. I know we're in a crisis here but that really doesn't give you a reason, hon, to just let yourself go. I almost mistook you for a guy."

Yumi flushed angrily about to snap at the other girl when Ulrich intervened.

"Sissi, she looks way better than you ever will and yet, you put that disgusting gunk on your face every night. If you really want to scare off the other boys here then just open up your mouth. Your voice is shrill and irritating enough."

Sissi stuttered, face red and at a lost for words. "You'll realize how wrong you are Ulrich!" she yelled angrily though unlike with William's more softer words before, barely anyone in the dining hall paid the girl's yell any heed. She stumped her foot, spinning around to storm out of the room when she paused, turning around to face a questioning Ulrich. She angrily shoved a sheet of paper at him.

"What's this?" he asked raising a brow.

"Deliver it to Section 8B. Your father's order," she said before leaving the room.

"What…was that?" Odd asked meaning Sissi.

"Sissi," Jeremy sighed. "Her father, after Ulrich's, is an influential leader in this settlement. She thinks that just because of that that she's privilege and has her sights on Ulrich ever since. Sadly, she doesn't seem to comprehend the word _no."_

Ulrich sighed, dropping down onto one knee in front of Odd.

"Hold up man," Odd said raising his hands up in a fake fainting motion. "I don't think I'm ready for something such as a proposal. We're so young and I don't know if I'm ready to settle down and we just met."

Ulrich looked at him incredulously. "What are you blabbering on about?"

"Ignore him," Yumi said a faint hint of a blush on her cheeks that still hadn't drained away from Ulrich's earlier compliment. "We think he was dropped on his head…repeatedly."

"I can see that," the brunette chuckled tying his shoes so that they held tighter. When he got back up to his feet he grunted tiredly. "Section 8B," he muttered. "That's all the way across the base. A forty-five minute trip."

Odd let out a whistle. "Guess you're going to miss dinner than. Mind if I have your rations?"

Ulrich and Jeremy looked at each other before they smirked. "Sure," Ulrich said. "That is, if you can eat it before I get back."

Odd chuckled. "Done deal."

Stern smirked. "Time me," he said over his shoulder to Jeremy as he ran out of the hall.

"Even if he does run there he still wouldn't make it back in time for him to get his food," William sighed. "It's as good as gone. Odd's a fast eater with a bottomless stomach."

"I wouldn't bet against Ulrich just yet," Jeremy grinned as he made his way towards the food line.

"His ration is as good as mine," Odd chuckled as he got to the serving area. "Hi, uh…Rosa," he greeted the older woman, who was serving as he saw her name tag, with a grin. "I'm Odd. It's nice to meet such a beautiful young lady such as yourself. How old are you? Twenty-five?"

The woman blushed. "W-why yes," she giggled. Jeremy rolled his eyes. Her? Twenty-five? Sure, if you add a zero behind it. William and Yumi rolled their eyes. This all sounded quite familiar to them by now.

"Yum." Odd said looking at the almost undistinguishable food before him. "This all looks great! Kudos to the chef!"

"Aw," Rosa said fanning herself with her hand. "Aren't you a dashing young man?" With a sickening _splat, _she dropped a spoonful of…of…- what exactly _was _it? – onto his plate.

"Rosa," Jeremy said clearing his throats. "This guy is an outsider to this settlement. He's under the care of the Sterns. Ulrich said that he could have his ration."

"Really? Well if you say so."

Odd grinned as the spoon hovered over his plate again. The goo was just about to fall onto it when…

"Thanks for holding my place Odd."

Jeremy grinned, not even looking back over his shoulder as he moved towards the table he and Ulrich regularly sat at.

Odd stared in disbelief as the extra helping of food landed on Ulrich's plate. The brunette smirked. "Time?"

"Three minutes," Jeremy said over a mouth food. "You're getting slow."

"It's been a while," the brunette defended as he took a seat next to his friend.

"Hey! You cheated!" Odd cried mournfully. "You couldn't have gone straight to Section 8B and back if it takes forty-five minutes. You passed it on to someone else didn't you?"

"Whatever," Ulrich said taking a biting of the supposed food. "I'm back before you ate it and that was all the rules entail."

The five continued to eat, getting to know each other better, unaware that this, their meeting, was anything but coincidence…

--

_Location: Florence, Italy_

_10 years ago, August 12, 1998_

He heard the warning sirens as people scrambled in confused chaos, crying and shouting out of fear. Would the enemy attack? Would they be bombed? Would they loose someone precious to them?

He didn't care. And why should he? No one noticed the small dark hair boy covered in his parents' blood, killed by snipers, their wedding rings clutched so tightly in his small hands that they formed deep imprints in his palms.

"Siete giusto?"

The dark hair boy blinked as a blonde hair little boy, who looked slightly younger than him, leaned in further towards him, a curious expression on his face. The older boy instinctively leaned back, taking a step away from the strange boy.

"Siete giusto?" the blonde repeated again but the dark hair boy could do was shake his head not understanding what the boy was saying.

"ODD!"

Both boy's turned around, the blonde with a slight pout, as a long raven hair girl stomped towards them, her face flushed with anger, her hands clenched into fists.

"Baka!" she yelled hitting the blonde upside the head, making him pout more, crying out in mock hurt which seemed to irk the girl even more as she continued speaking heatedly in another language that neither of the two boys seemed to understand except for the fact that she was angry.

The dark hair boy cocked his head to the side. The two seemed to have known each other and were close despite the language barrier. He vaguely wondered if their parents were one of the people running around like chicken with their heads cut off.

The blonde – apparently called Odd - sighed in what appeared to be boredom as the young girl continued to lecture him. He turned to the dark hair boy with a goofy smile. "Odd," he said pointing to himself before pointing to the girl who finally noticed the other boy with a blush of embarrassment, "Yumi."

It took the boy a few minutes to figure out that the boy was telling them their names.

"William," the older boy finally replied.

"Are you all alone, William?" a voice asked from behind him in his native tongue. He watched as the two children before him ran past him towards the voice. He turned and watched as they latched onto the legs of a woman behind him who stared at him with soft jade eyes. She stretched out a hand towards him. "You can come with us if you want. You…don't have to be alone."

"My parents…" he began not noticing the tears that freely fell from his eyes.

"We've all lost love ones," the woman said placing her hands gently on Odd's and Yumi's head, "but if we stick together, we may be able to bring them back but only…if you have no fear of…"

* * *

Wow. It's been a while since I've updated anything on here. My only excuses are that I moved to a new house and that basically when I stepped foot inside of school for the first day they basically said "Hi. Welcome back. Here's your crap load of homework!"

Anyway, the beginning was kind of a filler but towards the end important details were revealed that you may or may not noticed but if you didn't that's okay. They'll be brought up later.

Nothing more to say so...**_PLEASE REVIEW!!_**


	3. The Setting Gathers

**Disclaimer: I do not own Code Lyoko. I only own this story's plot.**

**La Mise Rassemble**

_Location: A hospital in a city in Germany_

_Year: 1992, several months before German satellite attack_

He watched silently as his wife breathed in slowly, sweat still glistening on her brow, the poor woman exhausted from the ordeal she was just put through. Her chestnut colored hair was disheveled into a tangled mess plastered to her damp skin. The room they were in was filled with teddy bears and powder blue balloons reading _"Congratulations!" _and _"It's a boy!"_

The birth had been strenuous, but Evan Stern had finally received what he wanted: a male heir that he would sculpt and shape to take over his financial business throne after he had stepped down. He had big plans for the boy. His son would be the best at everything, excelling both physically and mentally. His son would be a prominent figure in the political and business worlds, a force that no one could rival.

"Mr. Stern," a nurse spoke from behind him, a clipboard in hand. "What would you like to name your son?"

"Ulrich," the man said without hesitation and a tone of finality. "Ulrich Stern."

_Location: Hospital nursery_

As the traffic of proud new parents began to wane from the nursery window, the newborns tired of being stared at by these strange and unintelligent beings who cooed mindlessly at them – their parents – began to fall asleep, dreaming little dreams that they would neither understand nor remember due to their still undeveloped brains.

"Shift change," one of the nurses sighed relieved after working a long day with whining and unappreciative persons who couldn't even take care of themselves– and that was only the parents.

As the nurses began to change, either in or out of their uniforms, one particular nurse tied her copper hair into a ponytail before walking out of the nurses' locker room, still adjusting her uniform. "Newbies are always so excited in the beginning," one of the older nurses sighed as she prepared to return home. Suddenly the old nurse remembered that she had forgotten to do a final check up on the new arrival, Ulrich Stern. Seeing as it wouldn't take too long and she was still in her uniform, she made her way back to the nursery only to come close to having a heart attack.

Within the nursery, surrounded by many confused, startled, and crying infants stood the copper hair nurse from before. In one hand she held an injection needle with a strange silver liquid inside it that - if the old women's eyes weren't playing tricks on her - seemed to pulse a vibrant blue. In the nurse's other arm she held one of the infants…a boy…Ulrich Stern.

The old nurse gasped, catching the younger woman's attention and both acted quickly. The older nurse pushed the security call button while the copper hair one quickly injected the liquid into the boy before placing the baby back in his crib.

The alarms were going off and the loud and distinctive sound of feet running down the hallway towards the nursery grew louder. The older nurse stared in fear as the obvious imposter walked towards her. "Forgive me," was all the copper hair woman said before the old nurse felt a pressure against her neck and the room around her went black…

The next day, news about this occurance got out to the media, managing to hit first page since it was dealing with multi-million financial agent Evan Stern's new born son. The article read that the only witness was an elderly nurse almost about to retired. The supposed injection needle could not be found, the security cameras caught no one else in the nursery, and the infant's blood tests were perfectly normal. The old nurse, Margaret Trice, was relieved of her job and was strongly recommended to go to a retirement/metal institution for the elderly. The suppose suspect – if there even was one – never turned up.

Surprisingly though, the same occurrence happened in the hospital nurseries of Italy and France and also a year prior in Spain and Japan. Unfortunately – or maybe fortunately – a week after the supposed allegations were claimed and pushed to the back of the crime files because of lack of evidence, the cases mysteriously were deleted without notice, making it impossible for anyone to make any connections to the similar events…and the same copper hair woman that was described in each one.

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_Present Time_

_Location: Boulogne-Billancourt Underground Human Settlement_

A hit, a kick, and then he found himself on his back, staring up at the sky. A smirking female hovered over him, looking pleased. "Had enough?" she questioned.

He nodded knowing it would be an idiotic move and hurt his pride more if he continued. Once she was on a roll, Yumi was a challenge to beat. The Japanese female plopped down next to him, slightly out of breath herself as she laid herself down next to him on the packed earthen floor outside the settlement starring up at the seemingly endless afternoon sky.

Ulrich let out a slight grimace as he felt all his muscles tight and strained with effort as sweat rolled down his brow. It was painful and hurt like hell but he enjoyed every second of it. It had been a while since he had found someone challenging to fight. Jeremy obviously wasn't the athletic type and wouldn't last two seconds against him. The only other trained fighters were his father and Jim, each claiming to be either too old or too busy to practice with him. With the arrival of the three guests, the boy got more of a wide variety of fighting styles.

Odd was probably the weakest of the three when it came to hand to hand combat. Though he lasted longer then Jeremy ever could, and was swift at dodging punches and kicks, there were a few instances when the blonde would suddenly stop, a distant look in his eyes. When the blonde usually snapped out of it he found himself on his back starring up at an irritated Ulrich.

William, though Ulrich would never admit it, was a good fighter but the two boys' conflicting personalities turned the supposed good sport into an all out fighting, and sometimes verbal, brainless brawl.

Sparring with Yumi was different. They had similar but different fighting styles and they both took it seriously without going to dangerous or harmful extent. It was like a dance, the brunette would say. Neither of them knew exactly what move the other would do but each movement was precise, yet free and not over thought, strong and powerful but not in anyway harmful in these circumstances. It was…balanced.

"We should be heading back in, dontcha think?" Yumi sighed, sounding almost regretful. Ulrich let out a sigh as he got up to his feet, extending his hand towards Yumi to help her up. He really didn't want to go back in either.

About ten minutes later, the two found themselves back within the settlement. Ulrich glanced at Yumi from the corner of his eye as she led the way towards the dining hall. She and her companions had only been here for less than a month and they had already gotten acquainted with the base.

Many of the base's inhabitants had argued that the three travelers should be contained or under watch. They were strangers who were unwilling to explain where they came from or where they were going to before they crashed. It was surprisingly thanks to Ulrich's father – with a little nudging from Jim - that Yumi, Odd, and William were able to walk around the base freely, that is as long as either Jeremy or Ulrich accompanied them. None of the new friends had any problems about that though Ulrich and Jeremy could sometimes see the anxiety in their eyes growing with each passing day.

"You two are back early," Jeremy commented as his brunette hair friend and the raven hair female walked towards their usual table after getting their food.

"Hn," Ulrich grunted affirmatively taking a bite out of his cold sandwich.

"Well isn't someone Mr. Talkative?" Odd teased before wagging his finger in mock disapproval. "I bet you two were probably doing something very naughty. You two seem to go off on your own together a lot lately."

Yumi rolled her eyes though a light blush dusted her cheeks. "After hanging with the same people for so long, being with someone different is a relief," she commented taking a sip of her water.

"Then what about Jeremy? You hardly hang around with him." William asked gruffly.

"Huh?" said boy asked confused unsure on whether or not it was a good thing to be the topic of the conversation.

Narrowing her eyes, the Asian female was about to speak when Jim suddenly appeared at the table.

"Jimbo!" Odd greeted, trying to lighten the mood. "What's up?"

"Delmas wants to see all of you in his quarters, now," the older brunette grunted.

"Is this about Sissi's doing that face plant in the hall the other day?" Odd asked nervously gaining a few chuckles from Ulrich who had been among many to witness the incident. "Because I swear! I didn't touch her! She tripped on her own two feet!"

The eldest male raised a questioning unbelieving brow but could only shake his head. "No, Della Robbia. I don't know what he wants actually but you shouldn't keep him waiting. Now get moving!" The group got up, Odd pouting that his food would have to go cold.

Jim followed them out to the hall, watching them go before they turned the corner, out of his sight. He grunted to himself before turning in the opposite direction and heading towards his room.

The small private quarter was enough for the man as he entered the room walking straight through till he reached his bed. He knelt down beside it, groaning as his body slightly protested. It seemed he wasn't as young as he used to be, he sadly thought as he felt blindly underneath the bunk till his hand grabbed hold of a metal handle pulling it out and into view.

A thick layer of dust coated the worn rusted box, the hinges making a loud protest as he opened it. "No better time then the present," he muttered to himself gruffly as he took out one of the few items from the box. Unlike the container, the items inside definitely did not look like it belonged in a scrape yard.

Jim weighed one of the slender metal items in his hand, the cold crisp material against his skin.

The man didn't notice the shadowy smoke like figure forming behind him.

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"So then she said…" Odd said laughing to himself while the rest of the group groaned as if being tortured. The blonde almost pouted, crossing his arms stubbornly as he lagged behind the others to Delmas's quarters.

He tiredly blew a strand of violet hair out of his face that was stubbornly not breaking away from the rules of gravity with the rest of his hair. After several failed attempts the boy gave up on returning the strand to its brethren and stuffed his hands in his pants pockets. He was about to ask how much further till they reached Delmas's quarters when a familiar lightheaded feeling swept over him.

_A graying older bearded man with glasses introducing himself…_

_…thick black smoke…_

_…the eyes hold the truth…_

_…the symbol of destruction…_

_…an invasion…_

_…Xana…_

"Here we are," Jeremy's voice said, cutting through Odd's mind, bringing the boy back to reality…to the present.

"W-wait!" Odd began, voice filled with alarm as the other blonde began opening the makeshift door to Delmas's quarters and ultimately to their fate…

"Welcome, children," the figure of Delmas said from with the shadowy corner of the bare and scarcely lit room.

"Jim said you wanted to talk to us," Ulrich greeted while shoving his hands into his pockets.

"Yes," the oldest male nodded, hands behind his back as he began to pace. "You all have been skipping too much of your classes. Coming up with excuses of needing to go to the infirmary."

The group of teens looked confused. "Sir?" Jeremy questioned.

"And then causing disruptions in public!" Delmas continued as if not hearing the blonde. "Kadic is a respectable international boarding school that all of your parents paid their good money in order to send you to."

"But Mr. Delmas," Ulrich said looking at Jeremy for confirmation. "Kadic was the school destroyed by the satellite. We were just babies then. How could we…"

"I don't have a good feeling about this," Odd remarked, eyes shifting around the room before locking onto Delmas.

The man stopped his pacing, his right side towards them. "Your behavior deserves consequences," he spoke eerily as electricity played across his fingertips and his eyes seemed to glow behind his glasses' lens – the mark of Xana.

"It was a trap!" William growled.

"And we're without our weapons," Yumi cursed.

"Relax," Ulrich said getting into a defensive position. "It's five against one."

The door behind them suddenly buckled under a huge amount of weight, clanging loudly against the floor.

In the door way stood several settlers, possessed like Delmas, and quite a few block like creatures.

"We've been infiltrated!" gasped.

"I saw this coming," Odd said shaking his head.

"What?" Ulrich questioned as he dodged a laser from one of the block creatures.

"Odd can see what happens before it happens," William explained before running towards Delmas with a punch. His arm was caught and twisted behind his back, eliciting a cry of pain from the dark hair boy's mouth.

"Will!" cried Yumi in worry. The room was small and quickly filling with one of Xana's mini armies. They were defenseless…

"What would you kids do without old Jimbo, eh?"

William was pushed to the ground as Delmas was thrown against the wall, a wave of conflicting electricity coming from a small pin like object going through him. The possessed man let out a wail of suffering before suddenly becoming silenced and still.

The other possessed people and monsters in the room quickly found themselves much in a similar position as the five teens looked towards the doorway to find Jim standing there with something akin to a staple gun in one hand, a large pack on his shoulder, and a metal case in his hand.

"W-what's going on Jim?" Jeremy almost said near hysteria. "What the hell is that!" he pointed towards the weapon in the man's hands.

"No time for questions," Jim said throwing the case at Jeremy. "Xana knows that you five have reunited. He still has a grudge against you all. The settlement is probably filled with monsters and people he's taken control of."

"Reunited?" Ulrich questioned but he found his answer going unanswered as Jim rummaged into the bag on his shoulder and through out several things to Yumi, Odd, and William.

Ulrich noticed that Odd was given the two laser guns he had with him earlier while Yumi was given to matching thick black metal sticks, and William was tossed what looked to be a bladeless hilt. The brunette was surprised to find himself catching two smaller items similar to William's.

"Wish we had more time to teach ya," Jim grunted annoyed as he glanced down the hall at the increasing sound of feet, "but you'll just have to watch the others," he said to Ulrich before turning to Jeremy. "Once we're outside, open the case and put your hand on the pad. For now it should do the rest."

"So these were the guys we were waiting for all along?" Odd smirked. "This is great! Couldn't have picked anyone better!"

"What are you talking about?" Stern growled irritated, his hands tightening around his bladeless hilts. He was surprised when he found to yellow blades of light appear from the hilts, totally solid and lethal.

Yumi managed to let out a slight smirk as she shook the sticks in her hands lightly, they expanding out into a circular shape – like fully opened fans. A thick large smoggy grey blade appeared from William's hilt as he walked towards Ulrich, an unreadable look on his face.

"Who are you guys?" the brunette asked, keeping his eyes level with the other boy's.

A light of slight amusement twinkled in the older boy's eyes. "We're what we want to be," William said.

"And what is that?" Jeremy managed to stutter holding the case Jim had given him tightly to his chest, his entire body shaking.

"Xana's fear….the Lyoko warriors."

* * *

Okay. So two things to be sorry for. Sorry for the long wait and sorry for the ending. I honestly could not think of anyway better to end this chapter. School is hectic as always so that's one reason for the late update and there are some other personal reasons but I'm trying to get back on track with updates.

Nothing more the say so...**_PLEASE REVIEW!!!_**


	4. The Past Wished to Be Forgotten

**Disclaimer: I do not own Code Lyoko or any of its characters. I do own the plot of this story.**

**Le Passé a Souhaité être O****ublié**

_Location:__ Boulogne-Billancourt, France_

_Time: Unspecific time In the Past_

"NO! Don't make me do it!" she cried, begged, pleaded.

Shaky fingers covered in dried blood wiped her tear stained face, but more tears quickly replaced the ones brushed aside. His hands fell down to her quivering shoulders as he looked at her clearly, remembering her every beautiful feature.

"You have to do this. You're the only one who can," he said calmly, more calmly then he really felt at the moment as the walls around them shook violently. He pulled away but she caught his hand, hugging it to herself. He sighed. He loved her, but as blaring alarms sounded around them, the walls buckling with the weight being forced against them, he knew that this would probably be the last time that he saw her in this same view again.

She had a life to live, a goal to accomplish. His ended here after a simple press of a button. So with a heavy heart and gathering all his strength, he kissed her on the lips, surprising her, before pushing her away from him, enclosed in a shell.

"Goodbye, my princess," he murmured as her screams of protests suddenly died off with a whirring of machines and the world around him literally crumbled and fell on top of him….

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_Present Time_

_Location: Miles away from the Boulogne-Billancourt Human Settlement_

The land that had once been lush green farmlands was now a barren wasteland. Years, of torment and meaningless casualties of the early wars had saddened and weaken the soil so that not even the most prosperous rain storm could bring it back from its dead state.

Labored breaths were heard before the source of the sounds collapsed against the ground, disturbing the grains of dust in a small miniature storm.

He tasted the dry dirt in his mouth, faintly remembering the survival lessons that Jim had droned on about when he was younger. That moment then seeming pointless but now all the more memorable.

A shadow shielded his eyes from the heightened intensity of the rising sun. How long had it been? To him it felt like years, reliving every day with vivid memories.

"Is he ok?" one of the voices above him asked, indistinguishable by his tired mind.

"He'll have to be or he'll be left dead," another one said.

"Odd!" another, a more feminine voice, if his mind wasn't playing tricks with him, snapped.

"Ow! I was just kidding!" cried the second voice as he was physically reprimanded.

As his mind began to slowly come back, he felt himself being forced to his feet. "I got you, buddy," a reassuring voice grunted in his ear as his arm was slung over a shoulder.

Jeremy blinked his eyes. His mind still must have been far off. His vision was blurred though he still wore his glasses; tears were falling from his eyes.

The others – a brooding Ulrich; a silent Odd; a distant Yumi – let the boy continued. They all had their ways to let go of grief.

Ulrich readjusted Jeremy's arm that was slung over his shoulder with some difficulty. The splitting pain that was going down his side was much harder to ignore than first imagined.

Odd slung the other blonde's arm over his shoulder, relieving some of the weight from Ulrich, the brunette nodding thankfully before they continued walking, Yumi following silently behind them…

_**Hours Later…Night Time…**_

The flames of the fire danced lively, its embers burning hot with passion as they were reflected in listless glazed eyes.

Inky black strands drifted lazy in the cool night air, the only moving part of Yumi. The girl stared unseeingly in the flames, not really seeing them but images of what happened back at the settlement.

"_Yumi!" _She remembered him calling out to her, his usual arrogant smile on as if everything would be ok…but it wouldn't. He was gone now, ensnarled in the long black smoke like vines of-

"Yumi." She blinked as if waking from a dream, finding herself no longer staring at the fire but at a concerned expression of one Ulrich Stern. His previously green shirt was dark and stiff with dried blood at his side. "Hey, are you listening?"

"Huh?" the girl questioned before realizing something wet was slipping down her cheeks: tears. She wiped furiously at the moisture rolling down her skin. How long had it been since she last cried? She couldn't remember… "I'm sorry," she muttered when he eyes were dry though still red from crying.

"For what? Knowing a dumbass like him?" Ulrich shrugged nonchalantly.

"What?" questioned Yumi, wondering if she had possibly heard wrong.

"I mean, he was obviously an idiot. Bet he couldn't tie his shoes and-" the brunette wasn't surprised when he found himself on his back, a searing Yumi standing above him, a boot clad foot almost crushing his lungs.

"Don't EVER say those things about him!" she growled before removing her leg.

Ulrich got up dusting himself off. "Finally I got a reaction from you," he said. "Since we left the base you seemed almost dead."

The young woman found herself racking her mind of events after they left the settlement – after they escaped. She could hardly remember feeling anything. She might as well have been dead.

She looked back at Ulrich who was staring at the fire, hands stuffed in his pockets. "If you need someone to be angry at," he murmured softly, "then direct it at me," he said nudging a dry piece of wood into the fire.

He closed his eyes briefly, an image of smoking ruins burned into his mind. Machine like creatures crawled over the ruins with no respect as they even walked over an unmoving body that was half buried under the wreckage. The only saving grace was that it was impossible to identify the corpse, or maybe that just made it worst…

"I won't be angry at you," Yumi voice cut the silence. "And you shouldn't be angry at yourself either," she said before heading towards the makeshift tent where Odd and Jeremy were already asleep in.

"I have to be angry at myself," Ulrich murmured to himself. "I'm the reason why everyone died. I wasn't fast enough…and William died because of me."

He closed his eyes and he saw another unmoving body stacked upon the discarded rubble of the settlement. Black smog filtered over the body, wrapping it like a blanket, tendrils curling around the hilt of the large sword till it and its wielder were barred from view…

The fighting wasn't even over but it already felt like Xana had won.

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_200 miles away from the camp area_

"There's something there," she murmured sleepily, half way awake. "Someone's out there." The pulsations vibrated throughout her body, a lulling throb that surged throughout her body. She yawned as he eyes slowly fluttered close. "Daddy…" she yawned, "is it them?"

* * *

Ok, so before I get any reviews saying that I might be missing a chapter or something the complete vagueness as to what happened at the base was intentional and will help with the flow of the story...I hope.

Anyway, thanks to everyone for the support.

Also, for readers of Code Twilight: Silent Void, sorry for the delay. I know where I want the story to go but I'm facing some difficulty with actually writing it. Writer's block do to lack of intrest. I'm currently thinking of offering the spot of a co-writer if anyone is interested. If you are, ALONG with your review just say your interested and I'll get back to you on what I have in mind for the story. If there's more then one person who is interested then I might have a oneshot contest where I give you a certain plot based on the story. More info will be given later just leave a review. No Private Messages though, please. At least not right now.

Anyway, thanks for the support. Nothing more to say so....**_PLEASE REVIEW!!!_**


	5. Hidden Under a Rock

**Disclaimer: I do not own Code Lyoko. Just this story's plot.**

**Caché Sous Une Roche**

_Location:__ Boulogne-Billancourt, France_

_Time: Unspecific time In the Past_

He was forced to watch as his wife was taken away from his own grasps. His daughter didn't even cry. She knew the possibility of seeing her mother again was greatly non-existent and he was forced to watch her as she became a little quieter and a little more despondent.

They had moved, to a small bustling town in the early years of its expansion. He had managed to secure a job as a teacher at an up and coming boarding school where he had also managed to have his daughter attend. The job was risky, there were many chances that he could be found but it allowed him to get close to the materials he needed and the space he needed to set everything up.

He had hidden everything well – in an abandoned factory to be precise - only letting his daughter in on the secret from time to time in case the time called for her to escape without him. At least she would be safe even if he wasn't.

So, it was a surprise when he walked out of the factory elevator, prepared to crack the code for a new program he had stumble upon – one that had the possibility of going back a few minutes, possibly a few hours into the past – when he saw her.

Pink hair splayed around her, as she was curled up in a ball, visibly shaking on the floor. He thought he was seeing a ghost of his presumed dead wife. It just had to be since the only female he knew with naturally pink hair was tucked safely in her bed and this girl had to be in her late teens or early twenties at least.

But when she turned her tear stained face towards him when the doors to the elevators closed with an echoing shut, he saw clearly her face. And he knew, exactly who she was, or to be more precise whom she would soon be…

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_Present_

Jeremy was the first to rise. A seemingly endless adrenaline buzz running throughout him making sleep only possible for a few hours at a time; or the lack of sleep could have been due to Odd's snoring. After quietly crawling out of the shared tent, without waking the other two inhabitants, he stretched, wincing as every ripple of soreness went through his body. He shook his head. It felt like a beehive was stuck in it full of endless thoughts.

The camp fire gave out a pathetic spark, its embers faintly glowing as the sun's rising rays slowly pushed away the inky night sky. Sitting on the ground while staring at the dying embers was Ulrich, who by the bags under his eyes didn't appear to have had any better chances of getting a good night's sleep then Jeremy had.

The brunette looked up at his blonde companion and wordlessly got up following him to a nearby scrap metal pile, the remains of what used to be a proud and standing windmill.

They both dragged a long, hulking piece of metal away from the pile revealing one corner of a tarp sheet. On the count of three, they both tugged on it, but the cloth barely budged. They continued to tug until two other pairs of hands appeared to help – Yumi and Odd. With one final strong tug, they scattered the remaining pieces of scrap that was on top of the tarp onto the ground.

The rising sun glistened down on the sleek and smooth surfaces of the three vehicles before them as the strange devices hovered a feet above the ground. Jeremy couldn't help but run his fingers along the vehicles slick smoothness in awe. They felt real to the touch as any other thing but on closer inspection the surface was made up of fast moving numbers and codes, just like a computer… Jeremy couldn't help but glance back at the tent where the metal case Jim had given was placed inside.

The case, it appeared, held a strange computer like device that seemed so advanced and incomparable to understand and yet….Jeremy had done it with relative ease, managing to somehow create these vehicles and bring them into the real world… but it wasn't the fact that it was easy for him to do this, it was the fact that he knew exactly what he was doing without any instruction whatsoever. Even he, the so called Einstein according to Odd, shouldn't have been capable of figuring out such a thing. Jeremy glanced at the others, who they themselves seem to still be in awe at the vehicles.

Ulrich ran his hand over the seat of what appeared to be some sort of motorbike. He remembered the sudden feeling of guilty pleasure at his freedom. He was free while the rest of settlement was… He gripped his hands tightly. Being sorry wasn't going to cut it and he had a more pressing challenge to look towards: the downfall of Xana.

"We'll need to move soon," Yumi said breaking through his thoughts. "Xana always has monsters running about and it won't be too long before one of them finds us here."

"Ah, don't worry Yumes," Odd grinned throwing an arm around her shoulders. "We can beat off anything old Xana throws at us."

"Don't say that," Ulrich murmured though it was still loud enough for the others to hear. He still remembered the screams as the settlement had collapsed, blocking everyone else trapped inside. "We weren't able to do anything back at the settlement. We were caught off guard. If it happened once, it can happen again." He looked towards Yumi and Odd. "The only thing we can do now is to help you finish what you were doing. Whatever it was…"

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They traveled all day. When they got tired they stopped. When they couldn't sleep they kept going and it continued on like that.

At the beginning of the week, Odd had tried to liven up their dreary mood by doing trick on his hover board, but, after doing a few tricks it seemed he wasn't getting any positive responses from his companions. By the end of the week he only spoke when he had glimpses of bad weather coming their way and they needed to seek shelter.

After another week, they had found themselves crossing the Swedish border getting closer to the Alps.

"It's f-freezing," Jeremy said one night as they all sat around the warm comfort of the fire but it wasn't doing much at the moment.

"Winter is almost here," Yumi supplied. "We'll need to find some sort of shelter. A house or preferably another settlement-"

"No," Ulrich said cutting her off. "We're not bringing anyone else into this."

No one questioned him. Instead, Yumi turned towards Odd. "Do you see any place where we can stay?"

"Yumes, you know it doesn't work like that. I can't just put it on an off and on switch like you guys can!"

Sighing, Yumi brought her knees to her chin and stared out at the fire. "I doubt any of us asked for these…gifts," she said noticing that the fire needed more wood. Looking at the pile of dry timber they had acquired she watched intently as a piece raised into the air by itself before being tossed into the flames.

"Ha! At least you have ways of defending yourself," Jeremy scoffed almost bitterly. "You all have weapons and powers. Ulrich has been super fast since as long as I've known him. Odd can see the future. And you, Yumi, can…can do what you just did! Levitate things!"

"That's not true!" Odd said. "You have powers too. You're like, super smart! None of us would have been able to understand all those codes and stuff on that computer like you can, Einstein."

"He's right," Ulrich spoke up. "You're just as important to the team as any of us."

"A team," Yumi chuckled looking at the boy with a slight smile. "Then does that make you our fearless leader?"

"I-" Ulrich began before stopping, an embarrassed blush on his cheeks.

"Come on, fearless leader! Give us a speech!" Odd chuckled.

"Be quiet!" Ulrich hushed.

Odd chuckled. "See you're already-" He was cut off by Ulrich's hand.

"Do you hear that?" the brunette asked.

The others paused, listening.

Jeremy frowned. "I don't hear any-"

_ZAP!_

A laser flew by their heads, followed one after the other.

"Bloks!" Yumi shouted, pressing her body close against the ground along with the others as they avoided the oncoming shots.

"We're surrounded!" Odd shouted, already shooting his own lasers, but not at the circle of Bloks around them but up at the sky where a group of five mantas circled above.

Ulrich growled. He didn't want what happened at the settlement to happen here. He wouldn't allow it. Reaching for the two bladeless hilts at his waist, he unsheathed them before jumping up and blocking the onslaught of lasers aimed at him.

Off to the side, he vaguely heard Yumi grunt as she spun on her toes, tossing one of her bladed fans. It swerved around the Blok, seeming to miss it before it struck the eye symbol on the white plate on its behind. The young woman didn't even take time to watch the monster explode before she turned around and threw her other fan at a Blok that was coming up behind her. She barely blinked as a laser that Odd had shot just barely grazed her shoulder destroying a manta that had thought it could creep up behind her.

"They're not letting up!" she grunted, cart wheeling into a knelt position next to Odd.

He nodded agreeing. "It's like they're multiplying. You kill one and three more uglies pop up, like daisies!"

Yumi snorted. "I'd prefer being attacked by daisies any day."

A brunette streak went past them as Ulrich appeared just in time to block a laser that they hadn't seen coming. "You and me both," Ulrich muttered.

Jeremy hid behind a large rock being used a shield, typing madly on the laptop, wondering if there was something in its database that would help his friends. He growled frustrated, when nothing he seemed to do appear to work. "Damn it! Why aren't you doing anything?" he yelled at the piece of equipment. Angry, he slammed his hand against the rock only to flip around and crawl backwards away from it as it shook and rumbled.

The rock, a few feet tall seemed to widen and grow tall, expanding and bending around the group of teens.

"What the-" Odd began seeing a dome rise over their heads, shielding them from the growing attacks. Jeremy only had a second to duck in under the cover of the earth shield before it completely sealed off.

It was dark and took their eyes to adjust. No one spoke as the sound of the monsters continually attacking outside of the rock shield was heard, but it wouldn't break.

Eyes becoming adjusted to the darkness, Ulrich turned to Jeremy. "What did you do?"

The blonde shook his head, about to deny that he didn't do anything when the ground underneath them lurched down as the feeling of weightlessness over took them all, each one finding themselves pressed against the roof of the dome. As they descended at lightning speed, they felt like they had left their stomachs up above. They could barely scream.

It felt like they were falling to the center of the Earth, but after only a few minutes, everything stopped. They landed in a pile of tangled limbs and bruised sides.

"Please tell me the ride is over," Odd swayed as he got to his feet.

"What was _that_?" Ulrich questioned again, body still tense.

"I-I don't know," Jeremy said at a loss for words. Even if he had any, they would have been drowned out as the earthen walls around them cracked and fell around them before disappearing as if they had never been there but that was the least of it.

They all stood in silent shock, Yumi and Odd for different reasons then Ulrich and Jeremy. Before them was a room plated with metal and wires and a large looking machine with a monitor on it that looked so advanced Jeremy questioned if it had even been made on Earth. And in the center of everything, sealed off in a human size capsule, vapors swirling the solid glass window was an unconscious person.

A girl with startling pink hair…

"Aelita," Odd whispered softly.

* * *

So I finally got the urge to update this. I've been working on and off on this one chapter for about three months now, maybe more. I finally had this done Thursday but for some reason I couldn't get it to upload to the site. I still can't. I had to delete erase the stuff I had on one of the old documents on here and then use copy and paste so it would be saved to the site. Hopefully the problem will be fixed soon and I won't have to do this the next time I update.

Anyway, sorry for taking so long. No other excuse other then I got caught up in the Soul Eater fanfic section. But I plan to finish this story. If everything goes write and I don't have to stall for ideas there should only be two or three more chapters of this story left.

Well, nothing more to say, other then sorry for the delay once again and...**_PLEASE REVIEW!!!_**


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